Commit to Lead Ideas

My teaching has been transformed by being a part of a meaningful collaboration that has been maintained weekly for the past 4 years. With 7 current members across 5 different schools, we work together towards our common goal of helping students learn IB physics.

We are committed to staying in alignment with each other because it enables our collaborative community to be more powerful. Therefore, we make decisions by... more »

NJ ASCD believes in order to provide a full service experience where children and families needs are met on a daily basis, the entire teacher must be fulfilled, too. Perseverance must play a significantly central role in an educator’s life in order to meet the needs of the whole child. A healthy teacher becomes a lifelong learner and leader. A whole teacher better models and supports a whole child and their family.

NJ... more »

In September 2012 our public preschool teachers and administrators began the process of aligning all aspects of our preschool programming with the Pre-K Framework for English Language Arts & Literacy and Mathematics Incorporating the Common Core State Standards. Although in the beginning our work focused on redesigning our preschool curriculum for children who are three – four years old, over time it expanded to include... more »

Every day there are amazing things happening in our classrooms. One of my goals is to ensure that there are opportunities for my teachers to observe one another, share strategies, and collaborate. I would often hear talk of peers wanting to observe one another but rarely was there ever follow through.

My instructional coach and I created "Classroom Connections", the opportunity for our teachers to make a connection... more »

Provide professional development opportunities for general education teachers at both elementary and secondary levels within our district and intermediate school district levels. Lead special education teachers would be provided time to prepare and organize professional development, and be paid if outside of school hours, to specific areas of need according to general education teachers. A common website would be created... more »

Ten-minute take aways are short, meaningful professional development sessions designed to introduce a skill, strategy, or activity to teachers. As an instructional leader, I believe it is my responsibility to have an awareness of the needs of my teachers and to find the most effective ways to share a variety of best practices to meet their needs.

I will share ideas for how to present short, meaningful professional... more »

There are many components to teaching in an urban environment outside of curriculum and classroom management. Many teachers entering urban education lack the knowledge of family background, family and community struggles, community dynamics, and how to assist families in their academic, social, and emotional journey. In order to better prepare and retain urban teachers, a scaffolded mentoring and professional development... more »

I would like to start a professional development program in our district that provides an opportunity for teachers who teach similar subject/grade level time to collaborate. This would be professional development that is on a larger scale than just department or team meetings. For example, all US History teachers(from both of the high schools in our district) meet to share best practices.

My idea is to create a district online forum (maybe Edmodo as platform) for teachers to collaborate, share ideas, share training videos, resources, etc. This weblog to be used for teachers to log PD hours for re-certification.

Service-learning is a strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. This process is further reinforced when service is clearly linked to school curriculum or other educational objectives.

Youth Volunteer Corps is the only large-scale youth service organization in the U.S. and Canada that... more »

Let's elevate the role of NBCTs by creating professional learning teams in every state. NBCTs would work with state departments of education, the U.S. Department of Education, and other organizations to design and deliver professional growth initiatives for teachers in their state. NBCT teams, called Engines of Change, would consult with counties, districts, and school sites to support professional learning in America's... more »